Nov. 5, 2013

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This stunning sunset photo was shot by Jenny Labalme of Indianapolis! (Longtime Star readers will remember her byline as a reporter, but she told me she got her start in journalism as a photographer!) Share yours with The Star on our Facebook wall, or tag me @heycori on Twitter or Instagram! You can also email me at heycori@indystar.com.

Another view of Monday's beautiful sunset from Katie, aka @KaGeSquirrel on Twitter.

Did you see the beautiful (if early) sunset in central Indiana on Monday night? This photo is from Gabe Granger of Indianapolis. Share yours by tagging me @heycori on Twitter or Instagram! / Twitter.com/thejohnqcitizen

It’s Election Day in many parts of the country. Voters go to the polls today to elect governors in Virginia and New Jersey, pick new mayors in New York City, Boston, Detroit and other municipalities, and decide on a host of ballot issues across the country.

Here are more of today’s top stories ...

1. Mitch Daniels was still in thick of 2012 campaign after he decided against run.

A new book on the 2012 presidential campaign details the extent to which former President George W. Bush and other Republicans tried to push former Gov. Mitch Daniels to enter the race -- and how one potential rival’s camp tried to keep him out. An aide to former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman encouraged reporters to write about Daniels’ divorce and remarriage to his wife, Cheri, according to “Double Down: Game Change 2012,” written by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. A spokeswoman for Purdue University, where Daniels is now president, said Monday that Daniels has not read the book so has no comment on it.

2. Carmel approves new speed limits on the Monon Trail for bicyclists.

An ordinance that passed 7-0 Monday gives police the authority to issue tickets to those who exceed the trail’s new speed limits: 20 mph from 96th to 146th streets and 15 mph limit between 111th and 136th streets. Dogs also must be kept on a leash that’s no longer than 6 feet. And drivers aren’t exempt: They must leave 3 feet when passing bicyclists and avoid parking their vehicles on bike lanes. The list of tougher rules for the trail, bike paths and roadways are meant to promote safety and help everyone co-exist, though some think the city is overstepping.

The private Indiana colleges, in a joint release, said Monday they have followed Indiana University in joining Freedom Indiana, the bipartisan grass-roots coalition working to defeat the ban scheduled to be considered in the next Indiana General Assembly early next year. “Our students come from around the country and around the world, and our fundamental goal is to educate them to think critically, exercise responsible leadership, communicate effectively and tackle complex problems,” said the joint statement from DePauw President Brian W. Casey and Wabash President Gregory D. Hess. “This depends on attracting talented faculty and staff, a task that is made more difficult by the passage of this amendment.”

It was a “transient ischemic attack” that felled coach Gary Kubiak at halftime Sunday against the Colts in Houston’s Reliant Stadium, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. The Texans since announced Kubiak is "alert, coherent and in good spirits" at a local hospital, where he will stay at least one more night. Meanwhile, Denver Broncos coach John Fox on Monday underwent surgery to replace the aortic valve in his heart. Colts Coach Chuck Pagano, a leukemia survivor, said he sent good wishes to both.

-- Ouch! Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers left Monday Night Football with a left shoulder injury; he landed on it when he was sacked by Chicago’s defensive end Shea McClellin on the game's opening series. Rodgers returned to the sideline in the third quarter in sweats and no sling on his shoulder; the team said tests are still being done. The Packers lost 27-20 to the Bears.

-- And in the most disturbing NFL news: the Miami Dolphins’ Richie Incognito is accused of sending racist, threatening texts to teammate Jonathan Martin. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Incognito was under review by the NFL Players Association for his role in Martin’s departure from the team. The team has privately held that Martin abruptly left the club last Monday to deal with emotional issues.

In the most startling revelation released in advance, 32-year-old Michelle Knight told TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw of being "tied up like a fish" with orange extension cord and being hung on a bedroom wall "like an ornament" during part of the 11 years Castro held her captive in his Cleveland home. "That's the only way I can describe it," she said, using her hands to draw a picture in the air of being suspended by "my feet, my neck and by the arms" for days at a time — with no food or water or being allowed to use the bathroom. Knight's interview will air today and Wednesday and comes two months after Castro hanged himself in prison.

The health-care giant also agreed Monday to plead guilty to a criminal misdemeanor charge to settle allegations that it illegally promoted the use of its antipsychotic drugs for unapproved uses, including for children and the elderly. The charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, included payments to doctors to write prescriptions for unintended uses, sometimes for at-risk children, and kickbacks to a pharmacy company that served elderly patients suffering from dementia and living in nursing homes. The J&J agreement involved 45 states, because the alleged actions involved Medicaid, which is paid jointly by states and the federal government.

-- Another drug scandal: Herbal supplements aren’t often more than rice and weeds? Americans spend an estimated $5 billion a year on such supplements, but it’s largely a waste, according to reports. Canadian researchers tested 44 bottles of popular supplements sold by 12 companies with a process called DNA barcoding -- which has also been used to uncover fraud in the commercial seafood industry -- and found that many units of popular herbs such as echinacea and St. John’s Wort were adulterated (or substituted for altogether) with powdered rice and other dried plants. The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, "suggests that the problems are widespread and that quality control for many companies, whether through ignorance, incompetence or dishonesty, is unacceptable,” said David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group.

8. Judge says fired “Fountain Lady” gets unemployment pay.

Jessica McCoy, 25, became an Internet sensation after being videotaped at a Kansas City Royals game was fired from her job at a bank, whose company policy prohibited embarrassing off-duty conduct by employees. The Iowa woman was vacationing on Aug. 5 when she attended a baseball game at Kauffman Stadium -- and at one point, drunkenly decided to climb into a fountain in the lower level of the grandstand, in full view of many camera phones! McCoy was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, as well as soliciting a police officer (she offered sexual favors to one arresting official). But a judge ruled that McCoy’s “off-duty, on-vacation-in-another-state conduct, while certainly questionable on many levels, does not rise to the level of substantial, job-related misconduct sufficient to warrant a denial of unemployment benefits.”

9. John Green says “Fault in Our Stars” actress gets it right.

The author is raving about Shailene Woodley after spending much of two months on sets in Pittsburgh and Amsterdam for the filming of his best-selling novel, says The Star’s David Lindquist. Woodley portrays Hazel Grace Lancaster, an Indianapolis teenager who finds love with a fellow cancer patient. Green told a sold-out audience of 200 at the Ann Katz Festival of Books and Arts on Monday: “I was worried that I would see Shai and think, ‘Oh, she has her own Hazel. She’s not my Hazel.’ But every day she was my Hazel, and that was such a gift to me.” The film is scheduled for release on June 6, 2014. The Katz festival continues through Nov. 17, concluding with an appearance by “Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God” author Matthew Levitt.

10. Michelle Pfeiffer: I was in a cult that forbade food and water.

Pfeiffer was a “breatharian” -- somebody who believes all you need is sunlight to survive, she tells The Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine. The actress, now 55, said she came under the spell of a couple who put her on a sustenance plan "nobody can adhere to” when she arrived in Hollywood at age 20. "They were very controlling. I wasn't living with them, but I was there a lot and they were always telling me I needed to come more. I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially very draining," Pfeiffer says. Her first husband, actor Peter Horton, helped wrest her away. He was doing research for a role in a movie about followers of the Unification Church. "We were talking with an ex-Moonie and he was describing the psychological manipulation, and I just clicked."

Meanwhile, fans say Cher rocked it last night on “Dancing with the Stars”! She opened the show by descending from the ceiling in a mini-dress as she belted out her hit “Believe,” then filled in for judge Len Goodman on the panel with Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. Cher was also asked at one point a question from a fan: If she could turn back time, to what time would she go? "I'd go back to the 80s." Why? "I just had so much fun in the '80s, I cannot tell you. Maybe too much!" Oh, and yes, a sixth celebrity got booted off. Click through for who!